Of Magic and Duel Monsters
by Azphreal
Summary: Title is set to change. In a new world, duelists battle with real magic and real monsters, but when the net of energy that binds the world begins to fray and monsters turn on master, who can say what else will follow? OCs, CCs, maybe harsh language later.


This is the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!, but not as you'd know it.

For a start, the cards are small silver tablets with engravings. These engravings are the equivalent of our cards. You see, they don't summon monsters or spells via hologram; duelists physically cast the summons for monsters and conjure spells themselves. As a result, duelists aren't classified by their deck _arche_type like we do, but rather by their deck type; summoners use more monsters and equips than others, archemages use more offensive spells, necromancers utilise the dead, and so on.

This will use custom cards, to make up for the lack of ability to play a pure Spell/Trap deck. Some will also be renamed to fit with the theme of this fanfic and/or the duelist's deck.

As a side note, duelists concentrate on the duels rather closely, so chatter is rarely necessary. Their actions will carry out the various cards, but the activations and stuff will be in [square brackets].

Just so you know.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is owned and © Konami, but all characters, custom cards and plot lines are mine alone.

And without further ado, enjoy!

PS. no 'cardgamesonmotorcycles', 'kay? Speaking of which, this is only under the regular Yu-Gi-Oh! because there are no Turbo Duels, but... yeah, I'm not actually entirely sure what section to put this under. It's global, so regular.

* * *

><p>Faint eddies of purple light swirled around Xavier's fingers as he idly played with some of his magic. The light reflected partially off his pale green shirt and matching eyes, and the rest of his plain bedroom was illuminated. He sat on his unmade bed, sheets randomly strewn across and the pillow half out of the cover. Bookcases, three of them, adorned the wall, filled to the edge will all manner of fiction books; some romance, some sci-fi, but mostly fantasy. A set of shelves contained all sorts of Duel Monster-related items. Outside, the shallow moon shed its light in streaks past the faint grid of a safeshield on the window.<p>

Xavier stopped the light show and walked to the shelf and pulled a random silver tablet out of one of the many pouches there, inscribed with the words _Thunder Short_ and several glyphs. These glyphs were unreadable to non-duelists, he knew, but for magi such as himself, they were as easy as English to read. He felt like causing some magic, but that one probably wasn't the best to use inside the house, so he replaced it into the bag and drew another; it was entitled _Raging Flame Sprite_. He muttered the glyphs inscribed - 'geisa hiti lágr' - and threw the tablet to the floor and stepped back as it started glowing.

There was a light keening sound as the tablet suddenly burst into fire; a cold fire that didn't burn the surroundings, but fire nonetheless. After a few moments, the fire died down and a small child with a flaming witch's hat and mace stood, watching curiously.

_Master, why have I been summoned, if not for combat?_ asked the Raging Flame Sprite, whom he actually nicknamed Eri. Another Flame Sprite was actually in the same bag, named Rei, and the only way Xavier distinguished the two was the slight difference in how they set their hats; Eri's was straight, showing her serious nature, while Rei's was at a jaunty angle. They were probably his closest friends, even though they were only summons.

"Just companionship, tonight," Xavier replied to Eri's question.

She nodded and sat down on his bed, careful not to let her mace touch the covers; she may be able to be called and dismissed at will, but she was as real as Xavier himself. However, a faint purple rope connected her foot to the glowing tablet on the floor, showing her status. Her hat illuminated the room far more than his magic earlier, casting flickering shadows across each wall.

He sat down next to her, and they talked of small things, just passing time as Xavier filled his need for companionship. Living alone, and being a mage, he didn't really see too many people; despite the frequency of being born with magical talent, magi were still regarded as being too inhuman to be in contact with, unless one was magi themselves.

Eri and Xavier talked for a good hour or so, before he decided that he should get some sleep. He cancelled the summon with the word 'letta', replaced the tablet into the pouch on the shelves, and clambered into bed to the accompaniment of a small radio placed on his drawers.

* * *

><p>Sunlight interrupted Xavier's peaceful sleep, a piercing white light that his eyelids did little to filter. He raised a larger-than-average hand to cover his eyes as he rolled out of bed - unfortunately, towards the window. He crashed to the floor, a metre or so below his bed's surface, and muttered a quick 'minka rodüll' to reduce the glare. The spell took hold and the blinding radiance lessened to a manageable 15-watt glow.<p>

He sat up slowly, shook his head, and stood up - a little too fast, he realised, as Xavier almost re-joined the floor. _Friday_, he realised as he started getting changed into tidier clothes. _Gathering day_.

The Gathering was just a rough assembly of the magi of the city or town, and was common right across the world where magic was present. It was simply a means for the magic users to have a weekly meeting and even try and make friends similar to themselves. Because of the nature of these meetings, duels were regarded as part of the Gathering. There was even a bi-monthly tournament.

He slipped his duelling pouch over his shoulder, grabbed a slice of bread from the kitchen that he burnt with 'hiti', and strolled out the door, making sure to lock the safeshield on his way out.

He munched on the plain toast as he took a right from his small house - only just larger than any given apartment - and walked the few blocks to where the Gathering was held in his city of Seidhr, an out-of-the-way abandoned warehouse that some mage in the past had bought and donated to the city's magical user community. It was not only a meeting place, but a house of refuge to any magi on the run from the law or simply from the normals.

It was a second home.

* * *

><p>So, how was it? I will extend in chapter two how they duel, what the Gathering is, and other stuff, and that should be done soon-ish. I'm on camp next week, so don't expect much for that time.<p> 


End file.
